Baroness Andrews: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Ruth Kelly) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The House will recall the scale of the fire and explosions that took place at the Buncefield fuel depot on 11 December 2005. On the following day the Deputy Prime Minister made a Statement to the House thanking the emergency services, the voluntary services, local authority staff, government officials and local people for the magnificent way in which they had responded to the event. In response to a recent request (Business Questions 17 May 2007) from the honourable Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) the Leader of the House asked for a Statement on progress.
	Following on from earlier visits made by the Deputy Prime Minister and the then Fire Minister, I visited the area in July last year and met many of those who had been affected directly or had a role to play in facilitating the recovery process. I maintain a close interest in how matters are progressing and I am aware that more remains to be done.
	The House will be aware that on 20 December 2005 the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) announced that it had asked the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency to investigate the incident at the Buncefield oil depot and to appoint an investigation board with an independent chair. This reflected the commission's view that an independent investigation offered the best prospect of ensuring early identification and sharing of lessons learnt and for these reasons would be in the best interests of health and safety.
	The establishment of an independent investigation board, under the chairmanship of the right honourable Lord Newton of Braintree, to oversee detailed investigation into key aspects of the Buncefield incident is ensuring that information is swiftly made available to the public, subject only to legal considerations. The board is conducting its business openly, in close consultation with key stakeholders including members of the affected community. So far, five reports have been issued within a 15-month period, all of which are available from the official investigation website located at www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk .
	The board has been working on the four areas of concern it identified last July, and has already begun to issue recommendations. The first set of recommendations, relating to the design and operation of fuel storage sites, were published in March, and a further set on emergency planning, response and recovery is currently in preparation.
	I have written direct to the honourable Member.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Health Services (Rosie Winterton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council was held on 30 and 31 May. The health part was held on the 31 May. Anne Lambert, Deputy Permanent Representatvie to Brussels, represented the United Kingdom. The main item on the agenda was an exchange of views on the Commission consultation on smoke-free environments. Also covered was political agreement on a regulation on advanced therapy medicinal products, and general approaches on three food improvement agents regulations. There was adoption of a council resolution on EU consumer policy strategy, a council recommendation on injury prevention and conclusions on health promotion, HIV/AIDS and health services.
	Health council coincided with World No Tobacco Day and the ongoing Commission consultation on smoke-free environments. In light of this, there was a lengthy exchange of views. Most member states intervened to give a description of their national measures to limit exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, which vary greatly in terms of scope. The UK stated the importance of a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places, given that there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. The UK continued that the best way to achieve this was through binding legislation at national level, although a council recommendation at EU level, not a directive, could be a useful way to set out best practice for member states.
	On the regulation on advanced therapy medicinal products, political agreement was reached on the proposal as a part of a first reading deal withthe European Parliament. The UK was supportive of the compromise text.
	On the food improvements agents package, the presidency led a general approach for the latest compromise regulations on food additives, enzymes for use in foods and the establishment of a common authorisation procedure for food improvement agents. The UK was supportive of this. The presidency concluded that further technical discussions were needed on the remaining regulation in the package of measures—a regulation on food flavourings.
	The council adopted without significant discussion the recommendation on the prevention of injuries and the promotion of safety.
	Council conclusions on health promotion by means of nutrition and physical activity were also adopted.
	On health services, the council adopted the conclusions on Health Care across Europe—community framework on health services. There was a brief discussion and the UK and Finland intervened to draw Ministers' attention to the need for a coherent approach on the Social Security Regulation (883/2004) and European Court of Justice case law on patients seeking treatment abroad. Portugal committed to further discussions on health services during their presidency of the EU.
	The council conclusions on tackling HIV/AIDS within the EU and neighbouring countries were adopted. The UK did not intervene but submitted a written statement supporting the conclusions and welcoming the priority the presidency have given to HIV/AIDS. Member states spoke about the need to involve civil society at large and to emphasise preventive work in this area. The presidency mentioned its discussions with the pharmaceutical industry on ensuring that the cost of drugs does not become a barrier to effective treatment.

Lord Truscott: I represented the UK at the Telecoms Council in Luxembourg on 7 June 2007, which was the only such council under the current German presidency.
	The council began by reaching agreement on the Commission proposal for a regulation on roaming on public mobile networks within the Community, which will now be adopted later this month. The Commission thanked all involved for their constructive input and called on the council not to delay implementation. During my intervention I congratulated the presidency, council, European Parliament and the Commission on reaching a swift agreement. I also welcomed an outcome which delivered real benefits to consumers, while at the same time ensuring innovation and competition.
	The presidency then discussed the Commission's communication on radio frequency identification (RFID), a microchip-based technology that stores information about products or people, which can be read only by the appropriate scanners. The council was in agreement on the economic benefits RFID can deliver but recognised there were issues relating to privacy that need to be satisfactorily resolved before these benefits were realised. The Commission informed the council that it would be creating a RFID stakeholder group to raise awareness of these technologies and to address these concerns. In response to the council's concerns regarding privacy and personal data, the Commission confirmed that it would amend the ePrivacy directive as part of its forthcoming review of the electronic communications framework.
	The council conclusions on the Commission's i2010 strategy, which seek to direct the Commission's focus in the ICT policy field, were adopted without substantive comment. The Commission did, however, take the opportunity to remind council of the need to address the broadband gap across Europe in order to improve overall competitiveness. A substantial debate on the i2010 strategy is expected during the Slovenian presidency as part of the i2010 mid-term review.
	Under any other business (AOB), the Commission highlighted its communication on the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). The current mandate of ENISA, designed to assist EU institutions and member states in developing network security strategies, runs up until March 2009. The Commission is undertaking a review of this mandate and used this agenda item to raise this issue with the council. During this agenda item Estonia also took the opportunity to thank NATO and member states for the support it received during the recent cyber-attacks on its government websites.
	Following the council, the German presidency hosted a ministerial lunch to discuss postal services. During discussions it became clear there was broad agreement in principle on the full opening of the European postal market. Despite earlier agreement that the market should be fully opened by 2009, consensus was not reached on this date. Also, a number of countries expressed concerns on how a universal service would be funded in an open market. Portugal, which is assuming the presidency in July, is keen to reach agreement on the liberalisation of postal services during its presidency.